


Scattered Pieces

by Izzu



Category: Magic Kaito, まじっく快斗 | Magic Kaito, 名探偵コナン | Detective Conan | Case Closed
Genre: Canon - Manga, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-11
Updated: 2019-02-07
Packaged: 2019-10-08 07:26:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,414
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17382257
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Izzu/pseuds/Izzu
Summary: Series of shorts or snippets on the characters of Detective Conan and/or Magic Kaito.





	1. Unexpected situation

**Author's Note:**

> Been a very long time since I wrote my last Conan fic. And to be fair, as much as I would want to rewrite that old piece, I might as well move on and write anew. Since a lot of Conan lore has progressed since back then, and it's pretty hard to try to recover the old story's memory. That said, since I do have other stories that I alternately go back to and continue, don't trust me to be constant in my updates. Perils of multifandom, but no regrets.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What if we finally get that confirmation on Kaito's awareness of Conan's true identity?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part of the plot on this chapter was kinda influenced by an old fic muse that I used to post on FF. So I'm reviving that old muse in a much different setting.

He could barely muster a choked laugh, considering the unbelievable situation right now. What kind of a convoluted twist of fate, to have something like _this_ happening to him at such timing? Even if it was for some twisted novel narrative for some fantastic mysterious tale, he would've thought any writer that could think up such a twist to be out of their minds!

_Yet, could this turn of events be bad for him. Or **advantageous?**_

He bit his lips as he stared up towards the youth before him.

"You—! You don't seem to be surprised. Why—since _when_ did you know about _this_?"

The youth just shrugged to himself, saying nothing yet telling him _enough_ that the youth had been aware of his identity (or at least _suspecting_ it) for quite some time. That explained it. It really made a lot more sense now! The reason why lately the youth kept being bolder and _bolder_  in using his identity to use in their many heists, especially if he happened to be around as well.

It was not just because using Kudou Shinichi's identity proved to be quite advantageous to the youth whenever the youth was not able to use his disguising ability in his operations. It was also because the youth was _aware_ that even if he's around to prove that the youth was NOT the real Shinichi, in his position he couldn't risk revealing that fact without endangering himself and the people around him. (And it's not like he could conveniently appear to bust Kid's bubble anyway.)

He should have realized this much sooner. That this guy had been aware of his true identity for a while. He should've noticed it, the moment the youth had stopped referring to him as just a (young) detective and calling him often as the 'famed' detective.

But then again, with his current identity often being lauded as KID Killer by the masses... it would've been pretty easy to overlook such hints. And perhaps, because he had gotten too comfortable with having some of the members of the police, the FBI, NPA and even the Detective Boys seeing him using his normal deductive abilities that were not like a normal child's... to the point that he'd drop his guard and forgot about maintaining the child mask.

There must have been a point when his deductions might've let slip some critical information to the youth, leading the youth to be able to figure him out. And of course, the youth would've used it to his advantage.

_How stupid of him to not realize this sooner!_

"Heh! And I thought you'd at least be grateful to me for saving your ass just now."

_Hmph! As if!_

* * *

It was by chance... that he happened to be around as he saw that famed 'High School Detective of the East', seemingly in some kind of _trouble_. Well, partially. Aside from the fact that he had been trying to scout out the location for his next target, there was that warning that Akako gave him this morning. Well, he's not the kind to really fell for any kinds of superstitions but in case of Akako, well that's another story.

But he really hadn't expected to see the detective around, especially in his _original_ body. Well, there were those words of mouths... rumours that he occasionally heard about the so-called 'Heisei Holmes'. Of the guy to be said to have appeared somewhere during some select cases, in which later on whenever media picked those pieces of rumours out... there would be some other claims that would squash those rumours. Calling those appearances of Kudou Shinichi as just some doppelgangers and lookalikes.

Well, not that he really cared a lot about that dude anyway but after that _one_ time when they had indirectly clashed, he couldn't help taking an interest anyway. And that Kudo was slightly less _annoying_ than Hakuba and both of them were NOT from the same school (which was a plus). Anyway, he learned that at some point... THAT Kudou had started to shy away from the limelight. In which he SHOULD have felt relieved about. Less one (high school) detective to foil Kaitou Kid's heists.

But then later on... that _kid_ appeared in his life. Or more like, that kid started to cross paths with _Kaitou Kid_.

And he started noticing it after a while. How that kid's presence had _that_ familiar feeling. How he started to _dread_  as well as look forward to their next clashes. And he was aware of that feeling well. That as much as Edogawa Conan—Kudou Shinichi—should be his mortal _enemy_ , that guy's also like a fond _friend_. Someone who... he'd want to impress with the many magic tricks that he could think up.

To be fair, he used to consider Edogawa Conan-kun and Kudou Shinichi to be different people. But many things happened in the course of their _acquaintances_... and well, he kept finding _little hints_ that often tried to tell him that the two might be the _same_ person. As much as that idea would have sounded so weird.

But considering he was going after a criminal organization who seemed to believe that there's a special big gem that could be a key to achieving immortality... as well as learning that one of your fellow schoolmates was an actual _red witch_ , finding out that there's a possibility of _something_ that could be used to change a person's body into a child's doesn't sound as weird anymore. 

Well, seeing really DO mean believing. Because even as he was aware that Kudou's situation could be like that, it's another thing to ACTUALLY see his body shrinking in front of your eyes. He barely managed to NOT let his poker face fall from his countenance. It was lucky as well that he decided to drag Kudou away the moment he started seeing _visible_ steam starting to come out from the guy's body.

The small _kid_ continued to glare at him as Kaito starting to draw amusement from the sight. He held out his hand towards the kid.

"Come on... let's get you someplace better than here."

The _small_ guy still behaved stubbornly, before Kaito decided to just sweep the 'kid' off the ground anyway and leave their hiding place. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I call this a 'short' but it's more of a snippet of scenes that I wanted to write. Anyway, basing this on manga only and not counting the non-canon movies. Yet even then, based on just this in some of the recent KID chapter I always did feel that Kuroba already knew about Shinichi's secret. As to how, it's up to anyone's guesses. But it always felt to me that at times, whenever Kaito thought about Conan or talked to him as of late... it's like he's treating him as Shinichi. Like in that special on Ryoma, Kaito didn't really seem THAT surprised when Shinichi casually talked about Yukiko acting as Ryoma's sister. As if he's already aware that Conan/Shinichi's mum was an actress and WHO she was. XP


	2. Dreams I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shinichi had always been popular around girls... right?

"Hey!"

The oblivious girl turned around to face him, looking none the wiser. Shinichi could almost feel as if a vein on his forehead would rupture any time soon.

"Like I just said earlier, when would you finally answer to my confession? Or are you still avoiding it again?"

Ran's face immediately flushed red. "Of course I had the answer! Who the hell's trying to avoid it? I'm not like you who keeps running away at the critical moment!"

Shinichi backed off right away, slightly flustered over the retort. "Oh... that! I had a good reason why that happened so often..."

Ran pouted with a huff. "Seriously, you kept me in suspense all these time! Of course, my reply to _that_ would be—"

Before he could hear what Ran was about to say next, Shinichi could feel someone grabbing his arm and pulling him away...

"Hey, wait—!"

He turned around to snap at the person dragging him away, but then he found himself stunned as he recognized who it was that had pulled him aside.

"So bad! Conan-kun so bad! Ayumi want to confess too! Ayumi likes Conan A LOT! Please stay by Ayumi's side all the time!"

"Ayumi... chan...!" Shinichi could only gasp out. But... _Conan?_  Yet, right now he should be...

Shinichi looked down and almost screamed when he finally realized that he's in _Conan's_ body at the moment. But how... when? Then again, just now... Ran?!

He turned around again to see Ran staring back at him still, unaffected by the sight of the _smaller_ him. And he's not sure what to make out of this—Shinichi felt another hand pulling his other arm as Ayumi let go of his arm that she had been grasping.

"No way! _Kudou-kun_ is MINE! _Neither of you_ can get him now, only **_I_** can decide Kudou's future from this point on!"

Shinichi almost crossed his own eyes as he stared at the third girl. _Why on earth... even Haibara?_

Besides, why on earth Haibara would join on this tug of war over him? It's not as if Haibara _liked_ him in that way. Or did she?

"NO WAY!"

Not sure how... amidst the chaos that ensued between the three girls, Shinichi found himself being taken away again. This time, by a strong arm that managed to snatch him away from Haibara and lifted him _up_ beyond the reach of either Ayumi-chan or Haibara. _Ran_ reclaimed him back, as she held him tightly against her bosom.

"I won't let Shinichi go with either of you! He's my closest childhood friend. And above all, he's my most BELOVED—"

"W-wait... Ran!"  _NOT RIGHT HERE!!_

In the first place, why on earth they're having such argument at this time anyway? And from the start, there shouldn't be any dispute to be made anyway. Since the one person that he loved _most_ had always been...

"WAIT FOR A SECOND! DON'T TREAT ME LIKE SOME KINDA—!" 

* * *

"... _toy?"_

He blinked... dumbly, as Shinichi's eyes readjusted themselves in the dark. Before recognizing the desk that was located not far from where he was lying. Alongside the rest of the familiar furniture placed all around the room he was in. As well as the _bed_ he was lying on... and the _arms_ wrapped possessively around his waist, the warmth that was pressed against his back. Not to mention the occasional soft _breath_ that brushed the back of his neck every few seconds.

Shinichi started feeling a different _warmth_ blooming all over his body. Oh right... since last night, he's been lying over here by _her_ side. With Ran. Inside her bedroom.

He didn't actually _plan_ to sleep with her inside the bedroom (Uncle Kogorou would have raised another commotion if he found out about this) but last night, things just ended up that way. 

Ran had behaved oddly again, so he thought that he should look into it. She seemed to have trouble sleeping again, he could hear her tossing and turning on her bed for quite some time. When he could no longer hear any sounds coming from her room, he had sneaked inside to properly check on her. 

That's when he saw it; the dishevelled hair, the flip phone lying half-opened by the bedside... as well as a fallen picture frame. In which he had picked up.

It was a picture that Sonoko had taken of him, about a year ago out of random. That girl had been up to her usual mischief again, trying to snap some impromptu pictures of him again in order to tease Ran about it. He wanted nothing of it, so he'd been trying to avoid getting into any position that could let him be caught by that girl's phone camera—And then Ran just HAD to grab his arm without warning, and that was enough chance for Sonoko to snap a pic. He didn't realize that Sonoko had printed the picture to give Ran, much less having it framed.

He glanced around the room lazily and noted that some of the picture frames that used to contain pictures of him and Ran together had been put away. Must be because seeing those pictures of them together made her think about the old times.

_So why did that one picture...?_

He took that picture frame with him and was about to leave the room quietly without notice. And then Ran woke up suddenly and grabbed his arm...!

Shinichi let out a soft sigh. How did Ran manage to talk him out to keep her company for the night? Just because she said she had that nightmare about him _disappearing_. He should have refused... but with the kind of look that Ran had given him, how could he do that?

And because of that, he ended up having that silly dream.  _For crying out loud!_

To be fair, he had always been aware that Ayumi-chan had liked him for a while. Not that he minded it; all his life he always ended up getting the attention of the girls around him. And Ayumi-chan was a good girl, even if he couldn't return her feelings for him. Being liked by girls was not really a bad thing, though because of this... he tends to be on the receiving end of the stink eyes of the boys at school. Particularly Genta and Mitsuhiko, when it comes to Ayumi-chan.

_But that part about Haibara though..._

Was it because of that  _one_ time when his mum mentioned the likelihood that Haibara could have liked him that sparked that bit? But it was just that ONE time! And Haibara liked Higo! That girl couldn't have liked  _him_ of all people, after all of their complicated relationships all these times!

But that last few bits from that dream was _scary_ though. Since it was true that Haibara holds the key to his future. Because if Haibara couldn't manage to create the complete cure for APTX 4869, who knows how long would it'll be until he could return to living as Kudou Shinichi _permanently_. And if he couldn't return to being Shinichi, how could he return to Ran...?

Suddenly, without warning, Ran's arms started to tighten its hold around his waist. In return, it made him recall the other part of that dream. 

 _"Ah!",_ he sighed softly, even as he became aware that his cheeks had grown warm again. 

_What a ridiculous dream..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Might tweak this bit again later... but have a go at it for now. This crack randomly popped up while I'm rereading the old chapters. That aside... I had always wanted to write something based on that clip from Yesterday Love ending, so might as well add that bit too.


	3. Child

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pros and cons of being shrunk into a kid... well, there should be more pros... right?

Being stuck in a kid form... can be such a bother, right? 

Like being small robbed you the ability to defend yourself, robbed you of the many advantages you usually have by being older and bigger. Also, people would listen and take your words more _seriously_ as compared to when you're a child. As much as Prof. Agasa made him a lot of gadgets that could cover all of the disadvantages he had right now as Conan, it'd be a lie if he said that he didn't mind being stuck in this kid form.

Well, that said... it's not as if having this form was all bad. Being in this form had on many occasion _helped_ in trying to solve some of the complicated cases he's encountered. And sometimes... being small had saved his life and got him out of some tricky situations that could've cost him his life had he still in his normal size.

But yeah, there were many times when he really _hated_ being in this small body. Especially in situations like now.

Shinichi glanced to his side to see Ran looking morose again. This girl. Even after all of the effort to get her to take some time out for leisure with their other friends, in the end, it still hadn't cheered her mood up much. Not that it hadn't worked to cheer her up at all, but the moment his _name_ was mentioned... there's that probability when all the smiles and cheer on Ran's face would immediately turn into sadness.

_And he can't really say if he could really blame her for feeling so down._

Ah, and he thought having Hattori and Kazuha coming over and them taking the two to sightsee around the city could take her mind off things. But perhaps seeing the two together just made it _worse_ for her?

"Ran-neechan... please cheer up."

"Yeah... Ran, it's my bad for bringing his name up, but the reason we decided to drop by again was so that we could cheer you up."

Ran looked up towards Kazuha apologetically. "Ah, sorry about that. It's just that... it was really THAT frustrating. After all that talk about wanting to tell me something important, that idiot just runs off and disappear again. What's _that_ all about?"

"Inorite? That Kudou was such a wimp—!"

Shinichi sent Heiji a sharp glare as the Osakan high schooler let out a mischievous grin. _That Hattori!_

"You said it, Heiji-nicchan!" _Conan_ said, with a slight venom, before turning towards Ran. "Shinichi-nicchan was _really_ awful! How could he keep making Ran-neechan so sad? But at least I'm here with you!"

That drew a faint smile from her as Ran pulled him over into an embrace. And somehow Shinichi later found himself sitting on Ran's lap afterwards.

"Thank you, Conan-kun," Ran spoke again, "Having you _always_ around cheered me up a lot. But Conan-kun... that doesn't mean that you should force yourself to talk badly about Shinichi. I know how much you like him after all!"

"Haha... yeah!" Shinichi laughed nervously while trying his best to ignore Heiji's meaningful looks that the guy kept shooting at him. _Ah, the embarrassment!_

_But perhaps some sacrifice on your own dignity was worth it in the long run..._

"Aww, I wished I also have a cute little brother like Conan-kun to cheer me up when I'm down because of Heiji..." said Kazuha nonchalantly to Heiji's protest.

He would have said something about that as well but then Ran started wrapping her arms around his body again and squeezing him tightly and the next second, his mind went blank completely. But at least, after that, Ran gone back to her cheerful self again and started laughing.

And perhaps, that's for the best.

It might not end up being  _too_ bad, being this small. For the time being.

* * *

"Hi... I came here as soon as I could. Prof, what was it that you need me for?"

The old man cocked his head towards the couch as Shinichi caught sight of his mother staring back at him.

"She came over just now, and asked the professor to call you," Haibara added, before shrugging. "From the sound of it, your father and _that guy_ must've been discussing some _serious_ things over at your place. Perhaps some of those discussions involved _you_ and I guess, your mum might not be too _comfortable_ listening to it."

Shinichi sighed before walking over towards his mother, catching the sound of a faint sniffle coming from Yukiko. He climbed over the couch and sat beside his mother as Yukiko hastily wiped away the tears on her face.

"Sorry about this, but the more I thought about the dangerous things that might happen to you I just can't help myself!"

Shinichi let out a sigh.

It's just like Ran. How could he let his two most important women in his life _cry_ this much for him? If his mum was already like this worrying so much about him, imagine how Ran would be if she knew of the truth? That girl would've cried even more than she already had!

Shinichi sighed again as he watched his mum trying her hardest to regain her composure. His usually childish and happy-go-lucky mother. Whatever his father and Akai-san discussed must've been very alarming for her to be so distraught. Without warning, Shinichi came closer to his mother and dropped himself on his mother's lap.

_Well, if it worked on Ran it should also work for his mum._

"Shin... chan?"

Shinichi pursed his lips as he tried to distract himself from thinking about how hot his cheeks were getting and that Prof. Agasa and Haibara must've still been watching them from the nearby counter.

"I'll call over at the detective agency and tell them that I'm staying over here for the night. Just stop thinking about that awful stuff and concentrate on the fact your _baby Shin-chan_ is here with you. I'll let you do anything to me if that could make you feel slightly better."

"Oh, Shin-chan! My precious baby!"

His mother immediately started showering him with kisses and hugs that normally she wouldn't be able to give him whenever they were seen together with other people. And while it seemed as if his mother had turned back to her usual self, Shinichi could tell that his mother was still feeling troubled.

_Ah... how he wished he could return back to his old body for good._

He managed to tune out the surroundings as he let his mother treat him like some living teddy bear. Well... since he's quite used to the treatment anyway so it's not really THAT hard to do. And it's his MUM, and not Ran... so things should not be too weird. As if his mum ever stopped mollycoddling him when he's in his original body...

And it's not like he really _hated_ it, even when it could be quite embarrassing... especially when his mother does it in the open.

Perils of being an only child... huh?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This piece was spurred by some random crack that popped into my head because having Yukiko being fussy over Shin-chan was so amusing and I need more of Yukiko's babying him www
> 
> Well, it ended up not having THAT much of babying, but hey... Shinichi's offering himself to be treated as one should count. Right? Anyway, the two scenes don't necessarily happen on the same day. Conan's floating timeline should be useful in times like this.
> 
> ~~Yuki wanted to even take Shin-chan to bath together THIS time, but Shin-chan was glaring at me so nope XP~~


	4. Alarm

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wrote this in one go last night so might as well post this. Might end up tweaking this again later.

"Dad... I'm home!"  
  
Ran glanced around the living room to find that nobody was around. She frowned as she walked in and closed the door behind her to head towards her room to drop all of her things from the trip.  
  
Since she checked the office earlier and finding it empty, she thought for sure that her father and Conan would be here for sure. But they weren't. _Where did the two go?_  
  
Since she already told her father that she would be returning from the school trip today, you'd think he'd be anticipating her return by staying at home at this moment! Still, that didn't explain why even Conan was not around...  
  
Ran checked the kitchen and the living room and found some remains of takeaway foods as well as some unwashed plates and glasses in the sink. Her frowns grew even deeper.  
  
 _Her father better be taking care of Conan well during her absence these three days or there'll be hell to pay!_  
  
She was about to go down to Poirot to ask about her father when he finally came home. Well,  _that_ saved her the trip down.  
  
Regardless, there was still no sign of Conan with him.  
  
"Dad! What happened to Conan? Where is he?"  
  


* * *

  
He barely stepped afoot into the professor's house and bid farewell to Hattori when the call came. Almost gave him another heart attack as well.  
  
"Oh... Ran-kun. Did you just get home? Ah... sorry about that. I didn't want to make you worry or anything," said the professor as Shinichi looked at him anxiously.   
  
The professor suddenly frowned, "Oh? Conan-kun? You wanna talk to him?" The old man turned to look at him as Shinichi frantically shook his head. Agasa gave him a weak smile as he spoke again. "Umm... he's still sleeping though. Since I just gave him another dose of the fever medicine earlier."  
  
At that kind of explanation, you'd think anyone would just let the matter rest. But not for Ran, no sirree, you can't deter her over some weak reasonings like this.  
  
"Ah, you want me to wake him up? Can't you postpone this for later?" said the old man again as Shinichi let out a long agonizing sigh. He beckoned to the professor to just let him answer the call anyway.  
  
"Oh wait, Conan-kun has just woke up... I'll pass the phone to him," said Agasa hastily before giving him an apologetic look.  
  
Shinichi let out a cough or two and tried to speak in a tired way to make it sound like he was still feverish.  
  
"Hello... Ran-nee-chan? You're back already?"  
  
 ** _"Hnn, I did and was surprised to find that you're not at home. I was aghast when dad told me you've been sick and staying at the professor's all this time!"_**  
  
That outburst made him smile a little, trust Ran to be worrying about him as soon as she arrives home.  
  
"It's okay, Ran-nee-chan. You don't have to worry about me. The professor's been taking care of me very we—!"  
  
 _ **"That's not what I'm worried about! I just can't believe that dad would just leave you over there the moment I was gone, just because you're sick and he didn't want to have to take care of you. Wait there a bit, I'll come to pick you up as soon as I can!"**_  
  
That sent another jolt to his rising heart rate!

"Ran-nee-chan, wait! You don't need to rush—!" Shinichi stared at the phone handset as he could hear the beeps from the dial-tone. Ran had disconnected the call.  
  
He turned towards the professor in horror. "Ran's coming here! What should I do?" he exclaimed, panicking before having his arm grabbed and dragged towards the couch and pushed onto it.  
  
Before he could ask Shinichi got his face slammed with a hot water flask.  
  
"What's THAT for?" he cried out as Haibara gave him a smug look.  
  
"You're supposed to have a fever, aren't you? And since you've also just returned, there wasn't _really_ any need for you to pack your things. Shouldn't you get back to the detective agency already?"  
  
Well, that's true. But she didn't really need to be so blunt to him, did she?  
  
And turned out, all that panicking wasn't really necessary. Since the moment Ran arrived, his body immediately reacted to her presence. If he wasn't already worn out due to the trip back with Hattori, he _was_ now when she came. He could feel his cheeks flush and his whole body burning up at the sight of her, and his legs felt weak.  
  
Then again, it wasn't so long ago when THAT kiss happened.  
  
"Oh... you're still feverish and your face is so red. I was right about taking you back home as soon as possible."

Just being _touched_ by her sent tingles all over his body...  
  
 _You have no idea_ , thought Shinichi as Ran lifted him up onto her shoulders. In which Ran wasted no time excusing herself and walking both of them home.  
  
Not that he had anything to complain. Because this arrangement is heavenly.


	6. Secrets I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One secret shared in exchange for another. That should be fair, right?

The 'kid' let out a snort, and wasn't that just _rude?_ Here he was showing a small gesture of _courtesy_ towards the guy and what did he get? Kaito rolled his eyes at the _kid_.

"What? _Heard_ something funny?"

The _kid_ hastily shook his head before muttering a soft apology. "Ah, no... my bad. It's just that, you're _Kaitou_ KID... and your real name is Kuroba _Kaito_. I just can't help finding that to be amusing."

Kaito rolled his eyes again at the small guy. "Haha... very funny, Mr There's-Always- _One_ - _Truth_. For your information, my father did not name me because of Kaitou KID or anything... but from a _gemstone_. Well, not _exactly_... but he chose one that happened to come close to having _inspired_ by a gemstone. It just happened to _also_ sound the same as Kaitou."

Another snort, slightly _louder_ this time.

"Heh, someone's being prickly. And lay off from making fun of my name!"

"Well, who STARTED it first—?"

"I DIDN—I really didn't say ANYTHING about making fun of your name! It's only when you pointed it out—"

"You SNORTED!" Kaito pressed again, too much rattled to accept any other answer from the other.

"I wasn't—", the _kid_ lifted a hand to object, before dropping it. "Well, _fine_. You got a point."

Kaito grinned. "Now we'll call this _even_. You know _one secret of mine_ , and I know _one secret of yours_. Neither of us is gonna tell others what we know and we're keeping _these secrets_ between ourselves."

"But—!" the _kid_ started to say, before deflating. "—I still can _try_ busting your heists, right? I mean, like before... I'll just do my thing and try to capture you when you're out as Kaitou Kid. But aside from that, we'll put up a truce between us. As usual."

Kaito's eyes twinkled as he smiled at the _kid_.

"Of course! I couldn't possibly deprive you of _that_ ," he spoke almost at once, causing the other to stare back at him in surprise. "I mean, how could I force you into such a situation? After all, you're the one everyone knew as KID Killer. If you didn't do your _best_ to capture me the way you always do, other people would've been suspicious."

 _Conan_ stared at him sceptically. "Oh really? Was that _the_ only reason? No other ulterior motives? Don't tell that you've _fallen in love_ with me or something."

Kaito immediately laughed at that before shaking his head. "No, it's not that. It's just because it wouldn't be fun otherwise." He shrugged. "Besides... my father used to say this to me; Challenging hecklers who interfered with your magic are always a pain. But if you can mystify them with your most impossible and brilliant magic that boggles their mind, that troublesome heckler might, in turn, become an ardent fan."

He winked his eyes towards _Conan_. "Well, that's the gist of what dad used to say. His exact quote can be pretty wordy, to be honest. Besides, I liked the looks on your face whenever you managed to figure out the mechanics behind my tricks. Bet that's also the reason your _girlfriend_ liked you so much and let you be with your detective nonsense."

"Wha—!" the kid started to exclaim, all while his face started to redden, "—you. Don't start getting too cheeky with me, _idiot_."

"Hehe! Score one for me!"

"Idiot. We're supposed to be enemies, yanno. Don't get too attached to me."

Kaito grinned. "Heh! _Lupin_ shouldn't be the only one allowed to take a _liking_ to you." 

* * *

"Why didn't you answer immediately when Aoko rang the doorbell? And now the stew had gotten cold because you made Aoko wait outside for so long!"

Shinichi blinked as he turned and saw a girl breezing through the living room and towards the kitchen, carrying a small pot. As he watched the girl and Kaito continue to argue, he couldn't help noticing that the girl appeared to bear resemblance to Ran. Well, she's a bit rougher looking than Ran but from afar, one can't help seeing the similarity. And seeing the girl with Kaito, he couldn't also help seeing the similarity of their relationship with his and Ran's.

Well, he knew that there're always possibilities of doppelgangers to exist in the same time as you in this world, but to find some other similar-looking people having a similar relationship with each other as you... what're the odds of that happening by chance?

"I didn't even ask you to cook for me so why are you preparing this much stew?"

"Aoko wasn't making this for you of course, but dad got a report about another of KID's notices so he left to work! Now he'll definitely gonna be coming home late again and this stew would've been a waste! All because of Kaitou KID!"

"Eh, is that so?" said Shinichi without thinking as the girl popped her head back into the living room, finally noticing him.

The girl gasped as she seemed to recognize his face. "Ah! You're that kid who often comes out on the papers! I heard about you from dad!"

"Eh... what do you mean..."

Kaito let out a nervous laugh as he tried to shove the girl out towards the door. "She's no one special. Just a classmate who happened to be my _neighbour_... so don't think about it too much. "

"What you're talking about, _Bakaito?_ " said the girl before turning towards him. "Hi, I'm Nakamori Aoko. And you should be... you're ..."

"Edogawa Conan! Call me Conan!" he answered. Yet for a brief second the girl kinda reminded him of Kazuha.

As well as _something else_... that he can't seem to figure out. But then he realized another thing. "Wait... _Nakamori?_ You—I mean, _Nee-san!_ By any chance, are you somehow related to Inspector Nakamori anyhow?"

The girl who introduced herself as Aoko just smiled. "Yeah! He's my dad!"

Shinichi gave Kaito another amused glance as the other youth gave the young detective a warning glare.

A few minutes later...

"Oh!" Shinichi exclaimed after Kaito managed to send Aoko back to her own house.

Kaito turned his head towards him before frowning. "What?"

Shinichi just shook his head. "Nothing. It's just a pointless observation anyway—" he started saying before being greeted by the full force of Kaito's glare. He shrugged. "It's really nothing! Just the fact that I realised that the two of us had similar sounding voices. Mine and your _girlfriend_ just now."

"Aoko's not my girlfriend!" Ah, he struck a nerve, it seemed...

"Oh really?" he teased again before laughing.

Perhaps today didn't turn out to be as _bad_ as he thought it had.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Afternotes: Cos seriously you don't think I'd want to have the wordplay included here? Though half of its effects were lost cos this piece was written in English XD But I suppose people should still get it.
> 
> I'll have the Japanese lines here regardless.  
>  **怪盗** キッド <=> 黒羽 **快斗**  
>  工藤 **新一** <=> **真** 実はいつも **一** つ
> 
> Kinda forgot if the thing about Kaito's name was in MK manga or some fics (and I forgot what gem it's supposed to be anyway) but I left that part vague in the end. That aside, I had wanted Conan to meet Aoko... though might as well make this a two-parter. Since I like the current two-scene per chapter format I'm going with atm.
> 
> * in case this needs clarification, Lupin here refers to Jirokichi's dog.


End file.
